U.S. Customs House a testament to Savannah trade, history

Wednesday

Jul 30, 2014 at 12:16 AM

Mary Carr Mayle

If the imposing granite walls of Savannah's U.S. Customs House on Bay Street could talk, they would have plenty of tales to tell.

They would, no doubt, tell of the notorious and bustling slave trade that went on outside its back doors on Bay Lane, where - in flagrant violation of the law - slaves were kept in pens awaiting their turn on the auction block.

And they could offer all the sordid details of the famous trial of the last American slave ship, "The Wanderer," held in the building's courtrooms on the second floor.

They could tell of the day in early 1861 when the Georgia State Convention adopted the Ordinance of Secession and the Confederate flag was raised above the building, temporarily taking it out of U.S. control.

Then they would tell of Gen. William T. Sherman's occupation and return of the building to the Union nearly four years later.

And they could talk about Col. John H. Deveaux, who worked in the building in 1889 as the first African-American U.S. Customs Collector.

More recently, they would no doubt boast of the building's designation in 1966 as a contributing building in the Savannah National Historic Landmark District, its designation in 1972 as one of eight historic Custom Houses in the nation, its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and its designation in 1988 as one of 13 Bicentennial Custom Houses in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Customs Service.

As the Customs Service prepares to celebrate its 225th birthday this week, the massive building almost directly across the street from City Hall serves as a reminder that "while the tools and technology have changed, our mission endures," said Lisa Beth Brown, area port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection here.

Although U.S. Customs and Border Protection - established in 2003 by a merger of aspects of the Customs Service, the Department of Immigration and Naturalization and the Agriculture Department - is among the federal government's younger entities, most of its roles and responsibilities can be traced to July 1789, four months after the Constitution of the United States was ratified.

The U.S. Customs Service, one of the first federal agencies, was born on July 31, 1789, and given a life-and-death mission.

The young nation was on the brink of bankruptcy. After strenuous debate about how to best deal with this problem, the first Congress and President George Washington agreed that the collection of duties on imported goods was essential if the U.S. was to survive.

According to its official history, the power of the Customs Service went from legal theory to concrete reality just a few days later when Captain James Weeks sailed his brigantine, Persis, into New York harbor with a miscellaneous cargo from Leghorn, Italy. The duty on the cargo - the first such payment ever made to the United States Treasury - was $774.41.

While the payment was modest, it was the initial fiscal prop for a young and shaky government. In its first year of operation, the service reportedly collected more than $2 million in duties. And for the next 124 years - until that moment in 1913 when the amendment authorizing federal income tax was approved - duties and customs remained a major source of revenue for the federal government.

As the nation grew, the Customs mission became more complex, giving rise to agency mergers and reorganizations. Today, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, is one of the world's largest law enforcement organizations with more than 60,000 employees.

While it retains its original role of overseeing the collection of duties and customs tariffs on goods imported into the country, it is also charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while facilitating lawful international trade and travel.

Today, the building that once housed the Customs Service and federal courts, with the U.S. Post Office in the basement, is occupied solely by Customs and Border Protection.

"We have - and continue - to grow," Brown said, adding that her office also has a significant presence at the Port of Savannah, a new $25 million lab on Chatham Parkway and an operations center that is staffed 24/7.

But the Customs House continues to be the centerpiece of the service.

"This historic building is a living testament to the important mission we continue to fulfill," Brown said. "It's inspiring to think of all the work that's been done and the progress made within these walls.

"It's really an honor to be part of this proud legacy."

ABOUT THE LOCATION

A symbol Savannah's importance to Georgia's import-export trade since the 18th century, the site of the current U.S. Customs House on Bay Street is also significant as the original site of a wood-frame residence used by James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia and designer of Savannah's town plan.

The federal courthouse and the Tabernacle, where John Wesley preached his first sermon in America, were located on the rear of this lot. Savannah's first U.S. Custom House opened in 1789 on Commerce Row on East Bay Street. The second, opened in 1819 on East Bryan Street, but was burned in 1837.

Eight years later, the federal government purchased the site at East Bay and Bull Streets for a third U.S. Custom House.

ABOUT THE BUILDING

• New York architect John S. Norris served as designer and supervisor of construction, the first of 18 commissions Norris designed while living in Savannah from 1846 to 1861. The cornerstone was laid on July 20, 1848, and the building was completed in 1852.

• Constructed entirely of stone, the U.S. Custom House in Savannah represents Norris' advocacy of fireproof construction, an interest fully supported by the city, which had experienced several devastating fires during its short history.

• A distinctive cast-iron fence with balusters in the design of a closed tobacco leaf and fleur-de-lis surrounds the building. The building is eleven bays wide by five bays deep and constructed of 32-inch blocks of load-bearing, gray granite stones quarried in Quincy, Mass.

• A pedimented portico supported by six monolithic columns dominates the main facade. These solid columns, estimated to weigh between 15 and 20 tons each, were freighted from Massachusetts lashed to the decks of ships. It reportedly took thirty days to transport the columns from the riverbank to the site and an additional thirty days to raise them into position.

• The focal point of the interior is the solid granite stair at the center of the first floor. It is constructed so that each step locks into the next without obvious perpendicular support. A massive granite octagonal column at the basement level provides the necessary structural support for the stair.

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